Chumash Native People
The Chumash are native people are a Native American people that inhabited portions of the central and southern coastal regions of California, in areas of what is now Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Ventura, and Los Angeles. Their territory also included three of the Channel Islands: Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, and San Miguel; the smaller island of Anacapa was inhabited seasonally due to the lack of a consistent water source.
Modern places in California with Chumash origins include Malibu, Nipomo, Lompoc, Ojai, Pismo Beach, Point Mugu, Port Hueneme, Piru, Lake Castaic, Saticoy, Simi Valley, and Somis.
Archaeological research has shown that the Chumash people have deep roots in the Santa Barbara Channel area and lived along the southern coast for a millennia.
Modern places in California with Chumash origins include Malibu, Nipomo, Lompoc, Ojai, Pismo Beach, Point Mugu, Port Hueneme, Piru, Lake Castaic, Saticoy, Simi Valley, and Somis.
Archaeological research has shown that the Chumash people have deep roots in the Santa Barbara Channel area and lived along the southern coast for a millennia.
Land Acknowledgement
Education, research, and projects conducted by UCSB are within the traditional territory of the Chumash Peoples, and/or affect other Indigenous peoples in their territories and in spite of all of this, each Tribe, Council, Clan, and Band is working diligently to restore and continue their traditional stewardship practices on these lands and heal from this historical trauma.
The damage that has been done and continues to be done by not sharing the true history and legacy in this place and others, and by the exploitation of the Natural Cultural Resources of these areas, can never be erased, there is no mitigation or research project that can make their communities whole again. But we can do better!
As educators, friends, and allies, together, we can acknowledge the mistakes and atrocities of the past and move forward in remembrance and relationship with the local Chumash peoples and other Indigenous peoples, to facilitate their process of healing by making sure that our processes here make room for their Chumash and Indigenous voices to be heard, their Traditional Ecological Knowledge of these territories to be listened to and their peoples to be a part of the healing of these lands and waters, as well as themselves.
The damage that has been done and continues to be done by not sharing the true history and legacy in this place and others, and by the exploitation of the Natural Cultural Resources of these areas, can never be erased, there is no mitigation or research project that can make their communities whole again. But we can do better!
As educators, friends, and allies, together, we can acknowledge the mistakes and atrocities of the past and move forward in remembrance and relationship with the local Chumash peoples and other Indigenous peoples, to facilitate their process of healing by making sure that our processes here make room for their Chumash and Indigenous voices to be heard, their Traditional Ecological Knowledge of these territories to be listened to and their peoples to be a part of the healing of these lands and waters, as well as themselves.